CEC 27 Makes Case For The Rockaways
Say More Schools Needed On Peninsula
story and photo by Ralph Mancini

Mary Leas of the School Construction Authority details her agency's new Five-Year Capital Plan, which goes into effect in 2010.

Members of the Community Education Council District 27 expressed disappointment at their Nov. 17 meeting in Ozone Park over the exclusion of new school construction in the Rockaways in the Department of Education's Five-Year Capital Plan.

Mary Leas, project support manager for the School Construction Authority, was on hand for last Monday's meeting at P.S. 65 to disclose plans in the city's $11.3 billion budget to build new schools and renovate those in various stages of disrepair.

According to the proposal, a total of 42 new schools will be built citywide between 2010 and 2014 with 15 of them to be located in Queens. She noted that District 27 is slated to get two of those new schools totalling 951 additional seats.

Even so, CEC 27 member David Hooks took issue with the fact that both of the new schools are scheduled to go up on the mainland, not in the Rockaways.

"The density of the population has changed there," he argued in pointing out the changes taking place on the peninsula with scores of new residential units that are going under construction at an alarming pace.

Hooks went one step further by identifying a building adjacent to St. John's Episcopal Hospital on Beach 20th Street in Far Rockaway which was supposed to be used for specialneeds students. But after years of inactivity, nothing has come to fruition.

"There's a serious need to facilitate [providing assistance for] special needs children on the peninsula— it's crucial. The DOE (Department of Education) should be ashamed of themselves for not helping the ones who need the most help," he said.

Both Leas and DOE Deputy Director of Business Services Sandy Brawer informed Hooks that they can't take future projections into account when determining which parts of the district are in need of schools.

Those projections, warned Brawer, "sometimes don't materialize."

All the DOE can go by, they added, is the present populations of people in the area.

Handicapped accessibility

Hooks was also critical of the lack of handicapped accessibility at P.S. 42 in Arverne.

While Leas did promise the addition of an annex as part of future exterior work at the location, Hooks highlighted a myriad of interior repairs and additions that need more attention, such as missing bathroom stalls.

"The intent is to make children comfortable in this building—that's the bottom line," he observed.

CEC 27 President Andrew Baumann seconded Hooks' views by asking why exterior work at P.S. 106 ni Far Rockaway is on tap to go forward before some important interior projects, such the installation of an elevator for the handicapped and disabled.

"Here we'll do the entire exterior envelope modernization, but then they'll chop everything up and put holes in the building to install an elevator. Why don't you do it the other way around?" he asked.

Chief Senior Project Officer Gordon Tung claimed that tending to the structure's deteriorated external steel structure was more important.

"The facade is more urgent for the school. It's only a very small area that's being affected by [the elevator installation]," said the SCA spokesman.

Other CEC members, such as Shalom Becker, focused on the distraction that the work would pose by "disrupting" the learning process due to high noise volumes.

Tung assured him that his agency would go to great lengths to "isolate" their work, as well as performing much of it after school hours and at night.

Despite the explanation, Baumann continued to demand that DOE officials justify why their proposed handicapped accessibility undertakings seemingly rank low on their list of priorities when federal law mandates that every school be accessible to all those who are handicapped or disabled.

"There's not enough funding to make every school accessible. Things have to be prioritized," stated Brawer.

The DOE representative went on to tell both parents and CEC members that some schools aren't asking for elevators; instead, they would prefer having a lunchroom or a new gymnasium.

During her presentation of the SCA's Five-Year Plan, Leas made sure to mention that the 2010-2014 work list is one that's not etched in stone, and will be subject to change depending on future developments.

Budget talk

District 27 Community Superintendent Michele Lloyd-Bey told parents of impending cuts to the city's school budget.

On the heels of two recent rounds of budget reductions, Lloyd- Bey apprised the audience of future cuts of 2.5 percent (approximately $180 million) and five percent (approximately $385 million) over the next two years.

She further mentioned a firstround of layoffs, which will result in the elimination of approximately 475 positions outside the school.

Deeper cuts are projected to the non-school budget in 2010, she said.

Most of the school funds will reportedly be used on essentials, such as food and busing with a "small" percentage supporting the central Board.

"We should all rally around our principals," she advised parents. "Talk with your leadership teams and teachers to figure out what you want to take away. It will be different for different schools," concluded the community superintendent.

The next Community Education District 27 Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, Dec. 15 at P.S. 104, located at 2601 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway. For further details, call 1-718-642-5805.